Not to sound sexist but I really wonder in a land of SciFi and Comic Movies traditionally dominated by a male lead how a female lead will play? I know in recent times the Hunger Games has really blown that door wide open and for the most part it might not matter but I remember being a 5 year old boy who wanted nothing to do with buying a Princess Leia action figure.

It's a valid concern, at least from the standpoint of someone like hasbro, that traditionally maintains that female action figures don't sell to boys. I think there are very valid story reasons for this, which I applaud, and there are economic realities as well. A female protagonist is not an obstacle to the YA run of films recently (Hunger Games) and that's a fan base that SW does not currently cater to. SW would be insulated against any kind of fan boy resistance to a girl hero, but it does better by expanding its horizons. I'm all for it.

I think of it as a concern as well... Had the same thought you did, Scott.

I think they may try to balance the female and male heroes more than say Luke Han and Leia had any kind of "balance". By that series ending Luke was the main to most kids I think... Han was the only one close as far as heroes go. I think this series will see a little more balance between characters if they're going with a female lead because I can't help but think they've had the same thoughts.

A real surprise. I was expecting it to slip to 2016. The main reason is not so much the time for the film but Disney's economic pressures. Releasing the movie in May allows for a major media push which then extends to the DVD release right at the holidays. Releasing the film in December only catches half of that. Of course you get the DVD, but it's outside the holiday shopping season, and with all the talk and concern with money... still it's great to see an actual date finally, and I am looking forward to standing in line. In the cold.

I'm glad they're pushing it away from what is already a crowded Summer 2015, but I mean... May 4, 2016 would have been PERFECT from a marketing standpoint. Oh well. Early start to Christmas Break that year.

It's really funny and kinda/sorta irrelevant to this topic, but I wrote an analysis paper on how I believed Disney was more about milking out the profits from merchandising Star Wars than putting in any effort into actual creative material… and then hearing about Lucasfilm's struggle to try to get the film out later and Disney saying no because it would make for profitable summer AND holiday merchandising sales for them kinda proved my entire paper right.

That being said, I'm glad it's been pushed back to December. Definitely not liking that a Star Wars film is being released in December and not May, but, hey, I'll take it. Gives them 6 more months to make something more quality - with Star Wars films having gone away so long and now this one coming back basically from the dead, this entire Lucasfilm buyout would be a laughing stock for years to come and Star Wars as a rebooted franchise would be dead in the water if Episode VII was a flop.

Logged

"'Want to see a trick I learned at the Sith Temple? It's called "'Force Choke.'"

File this under Casting Rumors, because there are some significant actors under consideration for Episode VII roles:

'Star Wars' Rumors: Who Is J.J. Abrams Eyeing for 'Episode VII'?

6:14 PM PST 1/11/2014 by Borys Kit

Michael Fassbender, Adam Driver and Hugo Weaving are among the many actors to catch director J.J. Abrams eye – while sources indicate Luke, Leia and Han will have larger roles in the film than originally thought.

The Star Wars: Episode VII casting speculation game continues – and The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision has a few names to add to the mix: Michael Fassbender, Girls star Adam Driver and Hugo Weaving.

Never has a project attracted so much ink about meetings, but such is the passionate interest in Star Wars. Last fall, every few weeks there was a breathless reveal of a meeting, with names such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan, Jack O’Connell, Alex Pettyfer, Saoirse Ronan and Sullivan Stapleton coming up. And those are only the names that leaked out.

With all the actors being tossed around – including a report this week that Breaking Bad's Jesse Plemons was meeting with director J.J. Abrams about a role – Heat Vision thought it was time to check in on Star Wars in general.

Sources confirm Plemons is on the list to chat with Abrams for Episode VII (and possibly the entire trilogy), with a meeting set to take place this week. But he is only one of a long string of actors on Abrams' meeting list.

As usual, Disney and Lucasfilm are declining to comment, as are the agencies of the respective actors.

PHOTOS: 'Star Wars' Actors: Then and Now

The project has changed significantly since Oscar winner Michael Arndt split as writer on Episode VII in the fall, with duties taken up by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

According to multiple insiders, the reason for the parting of ways was not due to a timeframe issue, as has been reported, but rather due to a difference in opinion of which characters to emphasize.

Arndt is said to have focused on the offspring of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), with the original trilogy heroes taking on supporting roles. Abrams, however, wanted Episode VII to focus on the classic trio of characters, so audiences could have one more chance to enjoy them before a fitting send-off. The new characters, the offspring, will now be in supporting roles, according to these sources, and take center stage in Episode VIII and IX. Some characters have disappeared from the Arndt script and new ones are being drafted.

Star Wars creator George Lucas, who directed the 1977 original and each of the most recent trilogy, was also involved in the debate, according to insiders. But Lucas, who sold his Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, acquiesced to Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy, who now runs Lucasfilm.

So with Abrams and Kasdan now overhauling the script, that means many of the actors who had met and auditioned have been nixed for various reasons. For example, one actor who met with Abrams in the fall before the overhaul was Mud breakout star Tye Sheridan. But sources say that at this stage, there is no need for such young actors and thus Sheridan will not be involved. In another case, one part that was initially conceived as a 20-year old male is now being rewritten to be a 40-year old.

Abrams is, according to many sources, casting a wide, wide net and meeting with "everyone." Even those who have copped to a meeting, such as Ronan, say that.

Abrams has continued meeting with actors while the new script is taking shape. According to sources, he met with Fassbender in December. Girls star Driver is being eyed for a role.

While most names come with no identifying character, Hugo Weaving does. Weaving, according to two sources, met for a part to play an Imperial commander.

The latest bit to surface this week is that Abrams and Lucasfilm are now searching for a 20-something female actress who is either of mixed race or black. The rumor is that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a daughter or granddaughter.

I don't want Luke's son to be a creepy neo-Nazi, and let's face it, that's what 99% of us are going to think coming off that chilling performance in Breaking Bad. Nothing against the guy, just need some more distance from that role.

What happened with John Noble? Sleepy Hollow can't be keeping him THAT busy.

Hugo Weaving seems like he would be PERFECT as an Imperial commander of some sort. Just the way he carried himself as Schmidt in Captain America had that sort of arrogance that I think you could associate with a high ranking Imperial officer. A little over the top, but he definitely could have hung in a scene with someone like Peter Cushing.

Michael Fassbender seems like he could go either way. I think he's got the range to play either an Imperial or a new generation of Jedi Knight.

There's also word that Benedict Cumberbatch has been lobbying for a role, too. I think he'd be fantastic as an Imperial as well.

The latest bit to surface this week is that Abrams and Lucasfilm are now searching for a 20-something female actress who is either of mixed race or black. The rumor is that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a daughter or granddaughter.

PLEASE don't give Obi-Wan a kid. That's so so so out of character with the OT Kenobi.

I agree. If Obi-Wan has a kid then it takes away from Anakin's attachment to Padme and kid that led to his downfall. I guess if he did have some affair, then I suppose they might say that Obi-Wan 'knew' about it (he seemed to suspect something between them) and didn't say anything to the Council since he went through the same thing.